Sunday, March 18, 2012

Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the best blogposts I've read throughout the week.

It's been an eventful last two weeks, if by eventful I mean trying to recover from Grandma's visit, then (my kids') illness, then (Mikko's) tooth surgery, then (Mikko's) reaction to the antibiotics the dentist prescribed. Fortunately, everyone's well, but hoo boy.

Mikko has the worst baby teeth. They started coming in at three months, which apparently is really bad, because they're weak and just keep falling apart. We've been trying to convince his molars to stay intact as long as possible to guide in the permanent teeth, but one finally had to be extracted.

It was awful.

I don't really want to think about it that hard right now. But someday, it might be worth a blog post on when you have to help your kids through medical or other procedures that they need but that no one wants to go through.

An example of what my note did NOT look like.

Once he finally got over the trauma, he did in fact enjoy his first tooth fairy payout. He knows we're the tooth fairy, but he loves the whole concept of waking up to find money under his pillow. Hey, who wouldn't? I went a little overboard out of guilt, so he bought a little stuffed panda with his haul that I think we should name Toothers, but that he just calls Panda. (He's an auteur when it comes to naming.) I also left a note from the Tooth Fairy that I hastily scrawled on scrap paper in the dark, for such is my ability to produce scrapbookable objects, and he loved it and had me read it to him several times throughout the day, which I thought was sweet.

But then he got this fantastic rash from the amoxicillin being used to treat an infection in a different molar (the kid's been living on air and yogurt the past few weeks, poor thing). We had to keep him quarantined a few days just in case it was something more spectacular than hives, like chicken pox or rubella. As it turns out, despite being a homebody, I really hate being told I can't go anywhere. And Mikko wasn't sick in the least, so it all felt overdramatic.

But his rash is fading, and despite it all, I was also able to read a bit. You'll notice that many of these come from other people's Sunday Surfs. I was thinking about including even more but started feeling a little silly. It's not my fault they picked good links.

This I think I found cited at Anktangle, because I’m not above mining other people’s Sunday Surfs to fill my own (better than skipping it entirely like last week, right?). And I’m not above just copying & pasting my comment, either, to wit:

I was just thinking today — wait for it, it’s quite the revelation — This is my body for the rest of my life. Why not just be happy in it?

When I played princess as a kid, I always focused on the before part of life, usually making up my own stories about things that happened in between or before the written versions. But much of ‘imaginative’ play for little girls nowadays is focused on non-active pursuits. Boys are encouraged to be race car drivers, pirates, firemen, military men. They get to save people and fight. Girls are encouraged to shop and be pretty. Both of those things are fine, but what are we teaching them when that’s all we expect? What are we teaching boys when they can’t do those things too?

Guest post:

I read Alfie Kohn's perspective on the detriments of praise and took it to heart, but — like many other parents — I found it hard to figure out what to say in its place. Is all praise harmful? Is there a better way to convey appreciation for our child's gifts or excitement in our child's accomplishments? If so, what is it? Amy swoops in with her trademark wisdom and gives us concrete ideas to offer forms of praise without judgment or manipulation.

At LaurenWayne.com:

In a series on confusing word pairs, from this former copy editor who just can't help herself:

Find other carnivals at my Natural Parenting Carnival Linky. And please, please, please help me keep it updated by adding in carnivals OR memes (recipe linkups and the like) that you're hosting or entering! It would be soooo helpful. Don't be worried that yours is too small — I want to promote everybody's special blog parties! Even if the carnival or meme is already represented but you want to update the information, enter it again and I'll go in and delete the old info. Thank you! I'd love to make it a helpful resource for all of us.

Surf with us:

You can get the Sunday Surf button by Jenna Designs and some code to add to your post from my Sunday Surf page.
Please link up your post on Hobo Mama or on Authentic Parenting. The linky will go live every Sunday, and you can link up any day that week. If Sunday doesn't work for you but you do a links list another day, feel free to play along.
You only need to add your post to one of the sites, and the linky will automatically show up on both sites.
Check out previous editions for good reading, and you can find more shared items during the week at my Tumblr blog, Hobo Mama's Shared Items.

@articles: Thanks, 'Becca, that is definitely reassuring. We figured it was a good sign that he didn't have any potentially life-threatening symptoms (trouble breathing, swelling), so I'm hoping if he absolutely needs penicillin or another -cillin, he'll be able to take it if we just monitor him. Thanks for telling me!

Have you written any more about Mikko's teeth issues? My baby has two deep pits in his front teeth and I feel it's going to be a long road caring for them until they fall out! I've done tons of research on how to manage this but I worry about it so much!

@Jennifer McMillin: I haven't written more about his teeth, no, although I think I should at some point. I feel kind of sheepish about it, because we just went the conventional route. I know of some holistic options such as diet and alternative therapies, but based on my research, I really wasn't sure they worked (not sure they didn't work, mind you — the evidence just was not there either way), and Mikko will eat so little, I knew a huge dietary change would be a fail.

We had been using non-fluoride toothpaste, and our dentist quick had us change to fluoride toothpaste. I felt some qualms about that, but it did seem to slow the decay. Now that I've done research into topical fluoride, I believe it's beneficial, but I still avoid it with very young babies who can't spit.

All told, he had seven teeth worked on, I think — 3 pulled, four fillings, something like that? It was awful. Every single appointment was awful. :( Even at a caring pediatric dentist. If I could start it all over again, I would find a place that offers sedation for kids, either medicinal or general anesthesia. Ours doesn't offer either.

Anyway…ugh. I hope your baby's teeth stay as strong as possible and that you find a pediatric dentist who aligns with your needs and values. What made me feel better was being told that weak teeth are not anyone's fault. Mikko's teeth came in way early (starting at 3 months), and it seems like they just never had enough enamel or strength. The ones they pulled were literally crumbling and came out in pieces. Here's hoping the permanent teeth are stronger!

That sounds awful but I can't believe your ped dentist didn't offer any kind of sedation. That seems very strange to me. One of his front teeth just chipped on the bottom edge so it's not looking good and he's only just about to turn one. We've done fclo and high vitamin butter oil, pascalite clay, xylitol rinse and toothpaste, calcium drops and am considering cell salts. I can't quite tackle the diet stuff either as the main thing seems to be eliminating grains and that is such a core part of our diet. Fortunately I've read many times that permanent teeth are not often affected from weak milk teeth. I'm just worried that these are going to be pulled early and I know the baby teeth play an important role in spacing, etc. I've read also that there is no "fault" but I can't help feeling awful anyway!

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Riding the rails with my husband, Crackerdog Sam, and our hobo kids, Mikko Lint Picker (born June 2007), Alrik Irontrousers (born May 2011), and Karsten (born October 2014). Trying every day to parent intentionally and with grace.